Abstract

Bridges are big and beautiful structures, but they also need to be safe for the people who cross over them every day. Building a bridge that is safe and secure is a challenge to civil engineers. But the job is even more challenging if you live in earthquake country! Find out how engineers are solving this problem as they build a new bridge over the San Francisco Bay in California. Try some of your own Bay Bridge designs. Will your bridge design take the shake of a quake?

Objective

In this experiment you will design virtual bridges using different safety features and test them for stability during a virtual earthquake.

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Introduction

Civil engineering is the application of engineering principles to build large structures like roads, dams, or bridges. Usually civil engineering projects are for the public good, and provide an essential function. For example, bridges provide an essential corridor for traffic in parts of the world where large bodies of water separate an urban area. These traffic corridors are essential for business, commerce, and tourism.

The world famous Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Bay Area is home to one of the most famous bridges in the world, the Golden Gate Bridge. But just south-east of the Golden Gate is another bridge which holds great importance for trade and industry, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which connects the east bay cities of Oakland, Emeryville, and Berkeley to the city of San Francisco. But the dark secret of the Bay Bridge is that it also connects two major fault zones in Northern California, the San Andreas and Hayward Faults. In 1989 the Loma Prieta Earthquake (6.9) caused major damage to the Bay Bridge.

This aerial photo shows the section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge that collapsed during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.

Now, many years later, the Oakland span of the Bay Bridge is being built with the latest seismic retrofit technology available. In this experiment you can investigate some of this technology and try your hand at designing the new Bay Bridge. You can choose your own designs and safety features before you test if your bridge can withstand an earthquake. How much shaking can your bridge design take?

Terms and Concepts

To do this type of experiment you should know what the following terms mean. Have an adult help you search the Internet, or take you to your local library to find out more!

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This experiment has a lot of trials and design options, so you will want to keep a good record of your choices. The best tool for this science project is a well-kept notebook! Draw and record your choices in your lab notebook to save your data. You can also use a screen capture to save images of your choices on your computer as you proceed.
Here is a sample data table to use for each design:

Choose a type of bridge for each of the three segments of your new bridge. Place each segment by clicking on a bridge type and dragging it into place.

Click on the "Add Safety Features" tab to add any safety features to reinforce your bridge design. Record your data, this can get complicated!

Click on the "Test Your Bridge" tab to run the earthquake simulations. Choose BOTH a fault AND a magnitude from the list, then click the "Test It" button. The best strategy is to start by choosing the weakest earthquake and work your way up to higher magnitude earthquakes until your bridge design fails. Make a data table in your notebook to keep track of your successes and failures. Here is an example:

Fault

Magnitude

Result

Hayward

5.0

pass

Hayward

6.0

pass

Hayward

7.0

fail

Hayward

8.0

fail

San Andreas

5.0

pass

San Andreas

6.0

pass

San Andreas

7.0

pass

San Andreas

8.0

fail

If you like, you can print your bridge design by clicking on the "Print Bridge" tab at the top of the page when you are done.

Now incorporate what you have learned into your next bridge design, can you make an improvement? Remember for each design to keep careful records in your notebook in case you need to repeat any of your experiments!

Summarize your results in a table or graph. Which bridge designs worked the best? Are there any safety features which made the design more earthquake proof? What were the weakest and strongest designs?

Suspension bridges, with their tall towers, long spans, and gracefully curving cables are beautiful examples of the work of civil engineers. How do the cables and towers carry the load of the bridge? Can a suspension bridge carry a greater load than a simple beam bridge? Keeping You in Suspens(ion)
shows you how to find out.

Ask an Expert

The Ask an Expert Forum is intended to be a place where students can go to find answers to science questions that they have been unable to find using other resources. If you have specific questions about your science fair project or science fair, our team of volunteer scientists can help. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions, offer guidance, and help you troubleshoot.

Related Links

If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring these related careers:

Transportation Engineer

Have you ever visited family members for the holidays? You might have started your trip by taking the subway or a train to the airport. Then you jumped on a plane and flew to your destination. Finally, a family member picked you up in his or her car and drove you home. You traveled hundreds of miles in just one day. How did this happen? Who planned the subway route to the airport? Who decided the position of the airport runway? Who designed the highways and roadways? The answer to all of these questions is the transportation engineer. The goal of the transportation engineer is to move people and goods safely and efficiently.
Read more

Civil Engineers

If you turned on a faucet, used a bathroom, or visited a public space (like a road, a building, or a bridge) today, then you've used or visited a project that civil engineers helped to design and build. Civil engineers work to improve travel and commerce, provide people with safe drinking water and sanitation, and protect communities from earthquakes and floods. This important and ancient work is combined with a desire to make structures that are as beautiful and environmentally sound, as they are functional and cost-effective.
Read more

Architect

The essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson called Greek architecture the "flowering of geometry." Architects blend art and science, designing structures for people, such as houses, apartments, schools, stores, malls, offices, places of worship, museums, sports stadiums, music theaters, and convention centers. Their designs must take into account not only the structure's appearance, but its safety, function, environmental impact, and cost. Architects often participate in all phases of design, from the initial consultation with the clients where the structure is envisioned, to its completion. Architects can enrich people lives by creating structures that are as beautiful to look at as they are functional to live, work, or shop in.
Read more

Civil Engineering Technician

Do you dream of building big? Civil engineering technicians help build some of the largest structures in the world—from buildings, bridges, and dams to highways, airfields, and wastewater treatment facilities. Many of these construction projects are "public works," meaning they strengthen and benefit a community, state, or the nation.
Read more

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